Friday, June 22, 2012

It's quiet in the classroom today. Too quiet. The kids are off enjoying their first day of Summer Break and I'm here wrapping up the last few ends in the classroom. When the year began, we started with Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten. So, it seemed fitting to end the year with Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the Last Day of Kindergarten.
The end of kindergarten is always bitter-sweet. We're all excited (teachers and kids) to have a well deserved break, but we can't help but think that we've had a really good thing here. We've all grown in so many ways.

It's time to turn out the lights on another great year. See you in the fall, friends!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

You have changed the way I teach sight words in kindergarten. I think you're brilliant.

My daughter's kindergarten teacher used your DVD's with her class and introduced you to me. Now, I don't think I could live without you! We just finished our sight word assessment and my half time kindergartners did AWESOME this year!

The other day, during Writer's Workshop, one of my kids asked how to spell the word ARE. I never got the chance to answer. The kids at the table started singing, "Oh, the seals at the zoo said to me. ARE ARE. First and A. Then an R. Then and E." I just about cried! This wasn't an isolated instance. It happens ALL THE TIME in my classroom. They are transferring their knowledge of sight words to their writing. It's every teacher's dream come true!

Now that I know all of your songs, I have found your music helpful in my homelife too. My daughter was doing a math project the other day and asked, "Which coin has the man with the pony tail?" Of course, I broke into song, "Oh, the man with the pony tail is on the nickel and it's worth five cents." She started singing along with me and didn't even need to ask how much a nickel is worth.

Again, your products are brilliant. The parents in my class always ask what they should do with their kids over the summer to help them prepare for first grade. Your CD's and DVD's would be great for long car trips! I hope my parents will stop by your store for a look.

Adoringly yours,

Becca

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By the way, friends, I do not receive any compensation or special treatment for saying nice things about Heidi's products. I've just seen amazing growth in my kindergarten students after using her songs in the classroom.

Monday, June 4, 2012

We let seashells inspire our writing today! Next week we'll be heading to the beach for our last field trip of the year. I broke out my shell collection for the kids to look at today. I've been collecting shells since I was in kindergarten. My mom always thought my ever-growing shell collection was a bit excessive. She always wondered what I'd do with my shell collection when I grew up. Well, when you become a teacher, all of those collections come in handy.

I passed around a lot of my really big shells for my kids to see.

The kids loved exploring with them too.

Some of the shells have been purchased at different aquariums I have visited or at garage sales, others have been collected over the years.

Some of the kids had stories to tell about the beach, during Writer's Workshop. Other kids chose a shell and wrote about it.

Having seashells inspire our writing was so much fun! The kids had wonderful beach stories to tell. Hopefully, they'll have more fabulous stories after our field trip next week.